Rotary clothes drying rack



July 14, 1942. F. L. POLLARD ET AL ROTARY CLOTHES DRYING RACK FiledMarch 25, 1941 4 iiiiiwrrililiie ATKDR EY Patented July 14, 1942 ROTARYCLOTHES DRYING RACK Frank L. Pollard and Henry W. Gruenhagen, Oakland,Calif., assignors to Frank L. Pollard Company, Oakland, Calif., acorporation of California Application March 25, 1941, Serial No. 385,118

6 Claims.

This invention relates to collapsible rotary clothes drying racks and isan improvement to racks of the type such as disclosed in the PercyPatent No. 1,495,354 of May 27, 1924.

Since the capacity of a rack. depends upon the length. of the radialarms, the length of the arms should not be limited by the height of thepost as is the case with the rack shown in the Percy patent.

The various elements of the radial arm assembly should be so balancedthat little or no effort is required in adjusting it from its collapsedposition to its fully open position or vice versa, for ordinarily themanipulation of a device of this kind is effected by a woman.

In rotary racks now on the market of the type shown in the Percy patent,each radial arm is pivoted to and supported intermediate its ends by astrut or link, by means of a pin passing throughthe arm. The weakestpart of the arm is therefore at this point, although it is here that thearm is subjected to the greatest strain, for the weight of the arm andits associated load is carried cantilever fashion from this part of thearm. Care should therefore be taken to strengthen rather than. weakenthe arm at this point.

With these and other features in mind, it is the object of ourinvention:

To provide a rotary clothes rack in which the radial arms arecollapsible upwardly upon themselves and in which automatic means isprovided for disengaging the arm assembly from its associated centralpost as the arms approach their collapsed position so that the radialarm assembly is then free to telescope downwardly over the central post.

To provide a rotary clothes rack in which the radial arm assembly issubstantially in balance throughout its entire range of movement fromits collapsed to its fully open position so that little or no eiiort isrequired in opening or closing it.

To provide a rotary clothes rack in which the radial arms are reinforcedat the points at which they are subjected to the greatest strains andloads, and in which the loads are distributed over an extended area.

The invention possesses other advantageous features,.some of which withthe foregoing will be set forth at length in the following descriptionwhere that form of the invention which has been selected forillustration in the drawing accompanying and forming a part of thepresent specification is outlined in full. In said drawing, one form ofthe invention is shown, but it is to be understood that it is notlimited to such form,

since the invention as set forth in the claims may be embodied in aplurality of forms.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a-front elevation of a rotary clothes rack embodying theobjects of our invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical section taken through the armassembly of the rack shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical section of the arm assembly shown inits collapsed position.

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure. 3.

Figure 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Figure 2.

As shown in these various figures, the objects of our invention havebeen embodied in a rotary rack comprising a central post I which may bepermanently or removably mounted in a suitable base 2 embedded in theground or otherwise supported.

Journaled over the post for rotary and longitudinal movement therewithis a pair of sleeves 3 and 4 Welded or otherwise made integral with thesleeve 3 are a plurality of pairs of brackets or ears 5. Pressed intothe inner surface of the outer end of each ear is a circular recess orseat 6 for the accommodation of a boss 1 formed in each of a pair ofopposed channel-shaped clips 8 arranged to receive snugly between themthe inner end of a radially extending arm 9. Holding this assemblytogether is a bolt ll passing through the ears 5, the clips 8, andthrough a bore in the arm 9 of slightly larger diameter than thediameter of the bolt. It is to be noted that by this method of swivelingor pivoting the arms 9 to the ears 5, the weight of the arms and anyload carried thereby is transmitted from the arms to the ears notdirectly through a line of contact between the arm and the bolt, butindirectly through the extended surface of contact between the bosses 1and the recesses or seats 6 formed in the ears.

Welded or otherwise formed integral with or secured to the sleeve 4 area plurality of pairs of radially extending brackets or ears I5. Swiveledor pivoted to each pair of cars by a pin or bolt i6 is a channel-shapedmetal link I? provided at its inner end with an inwardly extendinglatch, finger, or dog [8 arranged to overlie and hang on the top of thepost I when the arm assembly is in its open or extended operativeposition.

The outer end of each of the links H is swiv eled or pivoted to itsassociated arm 9 by the device or clamp illustrated in Figure 4 andwhich is identical in construction tothat shown in Figure 5. As shown inFigure 4, this device comprises a recess or seat 22 pressed in the linkH, and a pair of channel-shaped clips 2| designed to fit snug- 1y aboutthe arm 9 and each formed with a boss 9 for engagement with the seat 22.Extending through each of these members is a bolt 23 for holding them intheir operative position so that the weight of the arm and itsassociated load is transmitted indirectly to the link I 1 through theextended surfaces of the clips 2| and link ll rather than directlythrough the bolt 23.

Movement of the sleeve 3 downwardly along the post I from the operativeor expanded position of the rack as shown in Figures 1 and 2 to thecollapsed position of the rack as shown in Figure 3, will cause the arms9 to rotate upwardly about the bolts H and the links I! to rotatedownwardly about the bolts Hi. This movement of the links will cause thedogs l8 to move outwardly out of engagement with the top of the post Iand consequently permit the entire arm assembly to slide eitherdownwardly to the base of the post or upwardly over the top of the post.In either case, the arm assembly can be readily removed from the post orit can be left telescoped with the post. It is to be noted that in thisposition a portion of each arm is accommodated in the channel of a linkH.

For the purpose of locking the arm assembly in its expanded or operativeposition, the sleeve 3 is provided with a flange 24 and the sleeve 4with an opposed interrupted flange 25. Disposed over the flange 24 is achannel-shaped collar 26, the upper flange of which is formed with aplurality of notches 27 for the reception of the interrupted flange 25.By passing the collar 26 over the flange 25 and turning the collar, thetwo sleeves 3 and 4 are locked together, thereby forming a rigidstructure with the arms 9 and links H.

In accordance with the usual practice, a clothesline 28 is threadedthrough spaced holes drilled in the arms 9. The post I may, instead ofbeing a tubular metallic post as shown, be made of solid wood, althoughthe type of post used is immaterial insofar as the objects of ourinvention are concerned.

Since in the structure herein disclosed, the arm assembly is collapsedby rotating the arms upwardly about their pivotal points on the lowersleeve, the length of the arms is in no way limited by the height of thepost, which for practical purposes is determined by the height of theaverage individual.

By swiveling the arms to their respective links indirectly through theclips 2|, the arms are strengthened rather than weakened at the point atwhich they are subjected to the greatest load.

Furthermore, it is to be noted that by properly locating the point onthe radial arm from which it is pivoted to its respective link, thecouple about this point, due to the weight of each portion of the arm oneither side of this point, may be made substantially zero for allpractical purposes, so that little or no eiTort is required in movingthe device from its fully collapsed position to its fully extended oropen position. The only effort required in manipulating the devicearises in connection with lifting or lowering the device on the postwhen it is in its fully collapsed position. However, since the dogscarried at the inner ends of the links automatically move in response torelative longitudinal movement between the two sleeves, both hands ofthe operator are free to carry this load. Obviously this is ofconsiderable advantage in extending the device to its fully openposition as well as in collapsing it to its fully closed position.

We claim;

1. A rack comprising: a supporting member; upper and lower bracketsslidable uponsaid supporting member; an arm pivoted at one end to saidlower bracket; a link pivoted at its inner end to said upper bracket andat its outer end to said arm; a dog formed on the inner end of said linkarranged to overlie a portion of said supporting member when said linkis in its extended position; and means for securing said bracketsagainst relative movement with respect to each other 2. A rotary rackcomprising: a post of circular cross section; upper and lower sleevesjournaled on said post; an arm pivoted at one end to said lower sleeve;a link pivoted at its inner end to said upper sleeve and at its outerend to a portion of said arm remote from its inner end; a dog providedon the inner end of said link for engagement with said post when theouter end of said link is in spaced relation with respect to said post;and means for'securing said sleeves against relative movement withrespect to each other.

3. A rotary rack comprising: a post; upper and lower sleeves journaledon said post for rotary and axial movement thereon; a plurality of armspivoted at their inner ends to said lower sleeve at peripherally spacedpoints on said lower sleeve; a link pivoted at its outer end to each ofsaid arms and at its inner end to said upper sleeve; a dog provided onthe inner end of one of said links for holding said upper sleeve on saidpost when said link is in its extended position; and means for securingsaid upper and lower sleeves against relative movement with respect toeach other when said links are in their extended position.

4. A rotary rack comprising: a post; upper and lower sleeves journaledon said post for rotary and axial movement thereon; a plurality of armspivoted at their inner ends to said lower sleeve at peripherally spacedpoints on said lower sleeve; a link pivoted at its outer end to each ofsaid arms and at its inner end to said upper sleeve; a dog provided onthe inner end of each link arranged to overlie a portion of said postwhen said links are in their extended position, and means for detachablysecuring said sleeves in abutting relation.

5. A rack comprising: a supporting member; upper and lower bracketsslidable upon said supporting member; an arm pivoted at its inner end tosaid lower bracket; a clip secured to said arm at a point spaced fromits inner end; a link pivoted at its inner end to said upper bracket andat its outer end to said clip; a dog provided on the inner end of saidlink arranged to overlie a portion of said post when said link is in itsextended position; and meansfor detachably holding said brackets inabutting relation with respect to each other.

6. A collapsible rack comprising: a supporting member; upper and lowerbrackets slidable upon said supporting member; an arm pivoted at one endto said lower bracket; a link pivoted at its inner end to said upperbracket and at its outer end to said arm, said link being provided inits upper face with a longitudinally extending channel for theaccommodation of said arm when said rack is in its fully collapsedposition; a dog formed on the inner end of said link arranged to overlieand engage a portion of the upper end of said supporting member whensaid rack is in its extended operative position and to clear saidsupporting member when said rack is in its collapsed position; and meansfor detachably holding said brackets in abutting relation.

FRANK L. POLLARD. HENRY W. GRUENHAGEN,

